Comment
Should Guy Kewney be on holiday?
Maybe this is a general question for us all but it is prompted by some recent writing. In his IT Week column (21 July) Guy seems upset that a conference got feedback and interest that might have been similar in effect to a browse on the web as an alternative way to catch up with current issues. As the conference involved a journey to Spain he might have just settled for the sun and beach and not worried so much.
Two other items in Personal Computer World (Sept 2003) suggest a gathering sense of desperation. 'Hands on - mobile computing' chronicles an attempt to switch from 802.11b to g, getting round the shocking shortage of spare parts in the UK. The suggested approach is to buy a Linksys router from Amazon and then take it apart. Warranties voided in all directions, so the method is 'not for the fainthearted'. And the final comment is that 802.11b is 'plenty fast enough for any Internet connection you are likely to meet over the next year or so'. I think it is the actual reality of UK bandwidth that may be driving some people to desperation.
In his main PCW column of the same issue, Guy Kewney takes issue with the UK policy on rural broadband and Government claims to future 'leadership'. He explains the potential of the 3.4GHz waveband that has just been auctioned. A mast could carry 60Mbits/sec over 25 miles or more. He asserts that Pacific Century Cyber Works (PCCW), who control Pound Radio, has 'no urgent need to use this new spectrum.......let alone use it for rural broadband provision.'
Just possibly PCCW will realise the potential and invest some resources. Things have happened in Asia that show a different approach to what we are used to in the UK. In South Korea the government has invested in broadband access in schools with positive results. Maybe after a summer pause there may be some new direction.
The final paragraph of the column raises an issue that is not often addressed. UK bandwidth history is described as "a long saga of ignorance, indifference and sheer obstructive penny-pinching that has made tourists mock the UK as a 'world lagger' in internet technology. And rightly so." Very often government claims about the UK being a leader for something by 2005 or sometime go by without much analysis. The target ususally refers to the G7 so ignores Korea and several relatively small European countries where governments have actually contributed resources, not just sold licences. Past figures from the OECD usually show UK between 20 and 30 in a table, with a low band of results for the proportion of people using broadband and the speeds at which 'broadband' operates. There have been DTI sponsored reports on 'leaders and laggards' and other marketing theories but the current situation seems to be that the UK is at a second or third level. If more journalists start to write about this, perhaps there would be an informed discussion by politicians. Nothing much will happen over the summer, but it is something to consider. If the idea seems strange, it could settle in over a break.
Meanwhile this site will continue to be designed assuming that a 56k modem is typical for the UK. The scope concentrates on hard copy. The dotcom site deals with aspects of PDF that require bandwidth. One implication of this is the timing of 'Network Publishing' or its relevance for the UK. Adobe launched the concept around 2001 with projections of growth for the internetincluding broadband. This has been revised anyway, so that DVD is now seen as a significant choice for distributing content.
Someone will be working on Guy Kewney's site at www.newswireless.net, My own thought is that September will be soon enough to study it regularly and spin off some form of interpretation. Sometimes it is good to slow down a little, but maybe that's just me.
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